Guernica did not keep Ross waiting long. He had said an hour, but returned in just twenty minutes.
The World Government already had the information Ross wanted on file. Ross figured Guernica only needed time to report to the Five Elders—his grandfather. Everything else was simply a matter of retrieving documents.
"Saint Ross, here is the list you requested."
Taking the roster from Guernica, Ross first picked up the one from Impel Down.
Celestial Dragons had always had a habit of taking slaves from Impel Down. He had done it several times himself.
The only difference was that he had previously been looking for toys. This time, he was looking for tools.
He quickly skipped through the upper levels, merely selecting a few names from each one and having Guernica bring them over as slaves.
They would serve as the capital for his initial accumulation, and he could use them to see how much experience pirates of different levels could bring him.
As he continued flipping through the pages, Ross's attention soon settled on the roster for the lowest level.
Besides consumables for leveling up, he also needed tools that could fight.
Pirates never fought alone. The world was vast; even if he became the ruler of the world, he could not manage such a huge place by himself.
"Golden Lion, Byrnndi World, Douglas Bullet..."
Ross raised an eyebrow slightly as he looked over the names.
This list really did contain quite a few pleasant surprises.
Even twenty years before the story began, Impel Down already held plenty of talented people.
In a few more years, there would be even more names on this list.
After only a brief glance, Ross put the list down.
A quick look was enough. He had no intention of taking anyone yet.
The prisoners on Impel Down's Lowest Level were certainly strong, but none of them were easy to handle. Quite a few had dared to kill Celestial Dragons.
Without enough strength to protect himself, bringing them out would be dangerous.
Once he raised his strength first, subduing these people would be easy.
Ross picked up the Navy roster beside him and examined it more carefully.
Being self-aware, he had always planned to start by poaching people from the Navy.
Compared to free-spirited pirates, the righteous and disciplined Navy was undoubtedly the better choice.
Whether they believed in corrupt justice or absolute justice, at least the Navy were people who followed rules. He had a better chance of subduing them, and more of them would be willing to work for him.
Skipping past a string of tempting names like Sakazuki, Kuzan, Tsuru, and Garp, Ross's gaze soon stopped at the bottom of the list.
Marine Elite Training Camp Graduation Roster
Gion, Chaton, Onigumo...
"These people seem to have great potential in the future. They would make a good foundation for my future forces. And if they've just graduated, they should be highly moldable."
Ross stroked his chin and pondered.
'Momousagi' Gion and 'Giuppon' Chaton would both become Admiral Candidates in the future. They might not reach S-class, but they were at least A-Class.
Onigumo would become an elite Vice Admiral in the future. He should at least be B+, which was still somewhat stronger than Guernica.
In just a moment, Ross had made up his mind.
"Guernica, contact the people above. Tell them my previous slaves were too weak. Either get me a few people from Impel Down's sixth level, or give me an Admiral as my personal bodyguard."
Ross spoke boldly, his tone brooking no argument.
"Huh?! Th-this... understood!"
Seeing Guernica stand there in a daze for a long time before finally agreeing with difficulty, Ross could only shake his head inwardly.
Heh, still too young. He hasn't seen enough Celestial Dragons.
If he only asked for a few rookies from the list, Saturn would probably think he had been replaced by an impostor.
The other Celestial Dragons would mock him for becoming more pathetic with age.
Celestial Dragons ordering around Admirals—that was normal procedure.
To avoid such trouble, he had to speak in the tone of a Celestial Dragon.
That was also the confidence the World Government had given Celestial Dragons after spending eight hundred years constantly elevating their status.
The last person who dared provoke the Celestial Dragons was named Rocks, the strongest man on the seas in nearly a century. The grass on his grave was probably several feet high by now.
Before Monkey D. Luffy set sail, the Celestial Dragons' rule was as solid as bedrock. No one dared provoke them.
"What are you standing around like that for? Stop dawdling."
Ross could not help frowning when he saw Guernica still hesitating.
He was only being asked to pass a message to his grandfather. Was there any need to drag things out like this?
Ross was already considering replacing Guernica.
As expected, someone he had not trained himself just did not feel quite right to use.
"Ah, yes! Saint Ross, I'll handle it immediately!"
Guernica hurriedly agreed, not daring to hesitate any longer.
This was his first day on the job handling work for a Celestial Dragon. He had expected the process to be difficult, but never imagined it would be this difficult.
Negotiating with the higher-ups to take prisoners from Impel Down's sixth level as slaves, or having an Admiral serve as Saint Ross's bodyguard—these were impossible tasks.
But if he failed, Saint Ross would definitely kill him, right?
It was only his first day officially serving in CP0. Please, no...
His mind in turmoil, Guernica dialed the Den Den Mushi of the Fleet Admiral at Marine Headquarters.
During his job training, he had been given the contact information for the heads of every Navy department to facilitate future missions.
At least in the World Government's eyes, CP0 ranked above the Navy.
Marine Headquarters, Marineford, the conference room at the very top.
The conference room was currently discussing the Buster Call. The meeting was briefly interrupted by the sudden ringing of a Den Den Mushi.
Fleet Admiral Kong was a burly middle-aged man with a mohawk. When he learned that the call came from CP0's dedicated Den Den Mushi, the displeasure on his face immediately vanished and was replaced by a warm smile.
After signaling his colleagues to indicate that it was a summons from the World Government, he decisively answered the call.
Kong assumed the call was most likely related to the Buster Call, so there was no need to hide it from the others present.
"Moshiboshi, this is Marine Headquarters. I am Fleet Admiral Kong!"
The headquarters officers present wore varying expressions when they saw Kong's unusual demeanor.
Admiral Sengoku and Vice Admiral Tsuru frowned slightly, seemingly displeased. Hero of the Marines Garp stuffed his face with doughnuts, as though neither the meeting nor the call had anything to do with him.
Vice Admiral Sakazuki glanced at Kong, then quickly looked away and continued studying the documents on the table concerning this Buster Call.
Vice Admiral Blamenco was filing his nails. He appeared unconcerned, but he sat up slightly straighter, seemingly very interested in the content of the call.
The middle-aged Kuzan wore a grim expression, though it was unclear whether it was because they were about to carry out a Buster Call on Ohara or because of the sudden call.
After Kong finished speaking, Guernica's cold voice immediately came through the Den Den Mushi in his hand:
"I am CP0 of the World Government. At Saint Ross's request, I order Admiral Sengoku to serve as Your Highness's personal bodyguard!"
The moment those words were spoken, everyone at Marine Headquarters changed expression. Even Ross looked at Guernica with a hint of displeasure.
Good lord, so he wasn't arrogant. He was genuinely stupid!
Damn it, someone who can't even understand what's implied can become CP0?
With one sentence, he offended the entire Navy for me. What a master.
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